As long as I can remember, Rudolph has been my favorite Christmas special. If we take a moment to ponder the subtext of the story, it becomes obvious that this is THE "Queer" Christmas Special. When I have posited this to people, invariably there are those who gasp, horrified that I could suggest such a thing. Those people need to get in touch with their inner homophobia. Before I lay out my case, I would like to point out that the DVD contains an "extra" in which Mr. Rankin or Mr. Bass tells the history behind the show. This rather precious old man sits there explaining how back in the day they were hanging out in Greenwich Village and thought about making this special. I would add that he is not wearing a wedding band and that GV is to the East Coast what San Fran is to the West Coast - need I say more? That said, let's begin to deconstruct this children's classic. Rudolph's parents are proud of their "little buck" until they discover that he's "different." So they go about hiding his "difference." They succeed at this until a rather unfortunate event at the reindeer games, lead by a classically macho "jock" of a reindeer, who is horrified by Rudolph's "difference" and banishes him for it. Meanwhile, Hermie, a very prissy boy elf, who wants to be a dentist, plays with dolls as he imagines being a dentist. Note that not only is Hermie the only boy elf with hair - and what hair he has - a blond swoop that Ann Miller could be proud of! His blond hair is much more in line with the girl elves, despite his blue boy elf outfit. Hermie too is ostracized for his "difference." He and Rudolph both decide to run away to a place where they will be accepted (in the early 1960's that would be Greenwich Village or San Francisco, I imagine). Along the way they meet up and sing the wonderful song about "Misfits." They then meet Yukon Cornelius - a man who has this strange habit of licking his tools (that in itself makes him a little queer in my book). Note that he has, among other things, a poodle as part of his sled dog routine. In the end, Santa and the elves are forced to recognize that their prejudice against those that are different is wrong and they repent. Even the mighty Bumble - sort of a big white fluffy, drag queen of a monster - just wants to belong. It's a wonderful message and one that I believe they deliberately wrote with a queer subtext. Couple of points to ponder - Mrs. Claus keeps pushing food on Santa "Eat, Papa, eat! Who ever heard of a skinny Santa..." But look at the food she is serving, it is GRAY! They didn't color it at all - who would want to eat that sh*t, Mrs. C? And, finally, the most wicked "wink" in the whole show. While on the Island of Misfit Toys you meet among other toys, a Charlie-in-the-Box, a squirt gun that shoots jelly, AND A BIRD THAT DOESN'T FLY, IT SWIMS! At the end of the show over the credits, one of the elves, the tall geeky one with horn rimmed glasses, is pulling the misfit toys out of Santa's bag, handing them an umbrella to serve as a parachute, and then tossing them overboard. He gets to the bird (THAT DOESN'T FLY) he looks at the bird, he looks at the umbrella, and then he shrugs and tosses the bird overboard without an umbrella!!! Wicked, wicked sense of humor - I supposed they didn't think little kids would pick up on such a major continuity problem, but I did! Check it out - it's too funny. If you doubt anything I have said here, I challenge you to sit down and watch this wonderful classic through my viewpoint and see if you don't end up agreeing.
